something I have never heard of till today

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I have really been trying to figure out how to proceed with this though.

I took a few pictures today of the male and I am sure that the eggs have hatched as I can see in his mouth that the color has gone from clear to grey and the size of mass in his mouth has changed in form and structure.

I have my extra 100g set up and running at half the salinity of the 180 they are in right now. I want to take that down about half again. Just to make sure that the baby fish are close to fresh.

One very interesting behavioral modification that has taken place in the tank is how predatory the other fish have become. The green spotted puffers were in this tank for a long time and never nipped any of the sharks fins, yet, as soon as they laid the eggs the puffers went to town on the sharks fins. So I rehomed them.

Now in the last day or so the scat has been trying to take a nip at the dorsal fins of the sharks. I am no expert, but, I figure that there is a hormonal change in the tank and the other fish kinda see this as an opportunity to have a light snack. The mono sabae has started to go ape and chase the archer fish around, which he also has never done before.

I really am tempted to leave the sharks in the tank and move the other fish to the 100g, yet, I wonder if the baby fish can survive in a high salinity environment. As there is nothing that I can find on the net to give any advice to this it leaves me with a crap shoot concept of this.

Here is the real crazy part of what is happening in the tank. The other female has suddenly begun to show the signs that she is carrying eggs herself. Her fins have become enlarged and she has become very rotund. The other female has had her fins shrink and she has gone more to normal size in the body.

What a wild concept to think that I might just have a breeding colony of columbian sharks.

Is there anyone on MFK who has any ideas as to whether or not the baby fish could survive if I left the sharks in the tank and moved the others or do they need to be in almost fresh water?

By my calculations this is near the 2 week mark and if similar to africans almost the time for the babies to show themselves.
 
Wow very interesting! Best of luck with the fry, I hope they survive.
 
I have no experience in this but if it were me I would move all of your other fish to the 100g and leave the sharks in where they are and try lowering the salinity in that tank. It would cause less stress to them I would think.
 
Ok so I got the temp up in the 100g and transferred the 3 archers, 1 mono and 1 scat to that tank. I pulled 25% of the water from the 180g and replaced with fresh for a 30% reduction in the salinity of the tank. I really do not want to go to fast on taking the salinity down as I do not want the little critters who are living on the live rock in the tank and sump to all die and cause a massive issue with the water quality.

I do not know with this kind of fish what the mated pair behavior is suppose to be. Though I do know what the behavior between fish that are about to spawn is, and, it really looks like the second female in the tank is holding eggs as she keeps getting thicker and larger in the belly and the fins keep getting larger.

From what I am seeing with the male it really looks like he is about to release the fry and I am tempted to strip the fish as I do not know if the other 2 sharks will eat the fry or not. I have watched how they strip aro's when they still have the yokesak attached and I have done so with my front's and I am thinking I can do this with this catfish. One thing I would hate to have happen is to have the second female drop eggs and the male pick them up without a chance to eat.

It is kind of funny to watch the 2 females constantly chasing after the male.

So is there anyone at all here on MFK that has any experience with mated catfish and/or stripping a mouth brooding catfish. If I do strip the fish I am going to use a breeding box to hold them in the tank so that I do not have to monkey with trying to match the water.
 
I would leave the sharks in the tank and move the other fish out. Whatever conditions made them breed is what you want to keep going. I'm surprised with all the drama you put the fish through it hasn't eaten the eggs.
I would move all the other fish and leave the spawning group of cats in the tank. You could add some bushy plants to give the fry some safe areas to hide if or when they emerge from the parents mouth.
 
MyGiants;5004688; said:
I would leave the sharks in the tank and move the other fish out. Whatever conditions made them breed is what you want to keep going. I'm surprised with all the drama you put the fish through it hasn't eaten the eggs.
I would move all the other fish and leave the spawning group of cats in the tank. You could add some bushy plants to give the fry some safe areas to hide if or when they emerge from the parents mouth.
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WTF are you talking about drama??????

So I should just leave one of my cats alone when it seems that it has something lodged in it's throat and not try to at least remove the obstruction.

Yeh I should leave a fish that is not swimming with it's normal grace and shows a huge bulge in its mouth alone.

Some how that is not what I would call drama it is what I would call that proper care and concern for ones fish. Now considering that I have only touched the fish one time and the other times I have been in the fish have been to remove other residents that hardly represents drama. I would think it is more dramatic for the sharks to be in a tank with puffers who suddenly decide to eat fin. I would think it is more dramatic to be left in a tank with a scat who has suddenly decided to become a fin nipper or with a mono who has suddenly decided to chase the archer fish all over the tank. While not a fish expert I can say that each time fish were removed from the tank the behavior of the sharks was reflective of being more relaxed and so far as I know drama does not cause relaxation.

Another thing that really sorta makes me shake my head at some people when they post up is how they make comments that show they have not actually read the thread. Perhaps you should show due diligence and read my last post where I clearly say that I have moved the fish.

Further WTF is wrong with showing concern about doing the right thing in an effort to see something that is not your run of the mill happening in a home tank come to a successful end.

Yup it's every day that someone has columbian sharks breed and successfully mouthbrood said eggs! Yup it's every day that the other female in the tank looks to be holding eggs as well.

AND FOR YOUR INFORMATION IN NATURAL CONDITIONS THIS FISH WILL BREED IN FULL SW AND THEN MOVE TO A FRESH WATER UPRIVER LOCATION TO DEPOSIT THE FRY SO THAT THEY CAN GROW IN FRESH WATER, AND FROM WHAT I HAVE READ IN EVERY SOURCE I HAVE LOOKED AT THIS IS THE REASON WHY SUCCESS HAS NOT BEEN ACHIEVED IN HOME AQUARIA. IT IS NEAR IMPOSSIBLE TO REPRODUCE THOSE CONDITIONS.

SO I SHOULD JUST SIT BACK AND LEAVE THE FISH AS THEY ARE SO THAT POSSIBLY THE FRY IF THEY COME CAN BE TURNED INTO PICKLES BECAUSE PERHAPS THERE IS A REASON WHY THEY ARE TAKEN TO FRESH WATER BY THE DAD. PERHAPS JUST PERHAPS, THEIR BIOLOGICAL CONDITION AS A FRY REQUIRES THAT THEY BE IN FRESH WATER NOT FULL ON SW.

So yeh, I figure I should just sit on my ass and be a lazy person doing nothing to prepare for what is a rare thing to have happen (from what I have read)

OR

I can do everything in my power to try to make sure that I have the nursery ready for what could be a first in the hobby. And if you wish to see my efforts as drama so be it for that is your personal right. As for me I am going to keep up with my drama and try to see this come off a success.

edit:FYI -I would be very hard pressed to find a bushy plant that will survive in a salinity of 1.065 which is where the tank presently is.

FYI- Since I have a full on sw set up here reducing the salinity to fast or to much will most surely kill the things that live on my live rock in the tank and in the sump thereby causing a massive spike in bad water quality.

FYI- Since the tank is located in my restaurant(with my other 8 tanks) I think I have a right to be somewhat concerned that I do not have a crash as dead fish in a tank are not a sight most consumers wish to see as they are eating.
 
:chillpill: no one said anything about your concern i would have done the same but i bet your fish wouldnt see it that way being netted with potential babies in its mouth = Drama
 
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I took these pics a few days ago, and tried to catch a proper shot of how the head of the male was enlarged, though I am not really a great picture taker

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the female who laid the eggs, with the reduced fins.

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the other female who has gotten fatter since I took this pic. Tried to get a shot of the enlarged fins.

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Pictures just taken about half hour ago.

I am tempted to strip the fish just in case the sharks go carnivorous.

Sorry if yall don't agree with my response to the drama comment. I simply do not see netting the fish one time as a call to name the situation drama.
 
correction the salinity is at 1.016

I was typing a little to fast before and messed up that part.

I think I would be hard pressed to find anything that would live in 1.06
 
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